Airship.



J. H. PEARSON.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED act. 6. 1911.

1,255,042. Patented Jan. 29, 191&

2 SHEETS-SHEET J. H. PEARSON.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 6. 1917.

mm; 5g

Patented Jan. 29, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES PA ENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. PEARSON, OF BLOOMFIELD, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO JAMES HASLEB AND ONE-THIRD TO CHARLES E. FULLER, BOTH OF BLOOMFIELD, INDIANA.

Patented Jan. 29, 1918.

' AIRSHIP.

1,255,042 v Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 8, 1917. Serial No. 195,150.

To all whom it may concern: 4

Be it known that I, JAMES H. PEARSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bloomfield, in the county of Greene and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Airship, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to airships of the heavier than air type, one of the objects of the invention being to providean airship the main body of which constitutes a sustaining plane and serves partly to house opposed propellers which are so arranged as to exert a thrust longitudinally of the said sustainin plane or body.

A further 0 ject is to provide an airship having simple and efficient means for controlling the flight thereof, said airship including sustainin planes so arranged relative to the car 0 the machine as to automatically stabilize the machine while in flight.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts. and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of an airship embodying the present improvements.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, a portion of the sustaining body and one of the wings being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 Fig. 1.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the main sustainingbody of the machine, the same having its upper and lower faces parallel while its end faces are also parallel but are inclined upwardly and forwardly. Parallel spars 2 are extended forwardly from the upper face of the body and additional parallel spars 3 are extended rearwardly from the lower face of the body. This sustaining body can be made up of a frame work having a suitable fabric stretched thereover so'- that the body will be light but durable.

An elevating plane 4 is pivotally mounted between the spars 2 and another elevatmg plane 5 is pivotally mounted between the spars 3. These planes may be controlled by cords 6 or the like extending therefrom into a car 7 which is fixedly attached to and arranged under the body 1..

A rudder 8 is connected to the rear end of the car and is adapted to swing laterally, this rudder being operated by any suitable mechamsm provided for that purpose.

Extending laterally from the sides of the body adjacent the rear end of the top surface thereof, are sustaining planes 9 Wh1Ch.aI6- inclined upwardly and outwardly,.as shown particularly in Fig. 3, these planes being braced by rods 10 or the like extending from the center of the top of the body. By arranging the planes at the angles shown, they operate automatically to stabilizethe machine or maintain its lateral balance.

Arranged. in each side of the body 1 at 'the center thereof is a segmental housing 11' which is concentric with a Vertical shaft 12 journaled in the body and back from the side thereof. Secured to each of these shafts are blades 13 of a paddle wheel or propeller, these blades being adapted successively to move outwardly from the side of the body,

thus to displace air rearwardly and exert a forward impulse to the body 1. The two shafts 12, are provided with gears 14 constantly meshing with gears 15 which are secured to a transverse shaft 16 located in the body 1 and under thehousings 11. A

sprocket 17 may be arranged upon the shaft 16 adjacent the center thereof, this s rpcket receiving motion through a chain lsaf ina motor 19located in the car 7.

It will be apparent that. when the propelling wheels are rotated at high speed, they will displace air rearwardly and thus cause the machine to move forwardly, the ascent and descent of the machine being 1 cooperates with the sustaining planes 9 to maintain the machine in flight.

Importance is attached to the fact that the propellers, which rotate in horizontal controlled by the tilting plane set and 5'wh11e the body planes, are located within the sustainingbody 1 so that the thrust is thus along lines intersecting the sustaining body from front to rear. Furthermore by having the shafts 12 set back from the sides of the body 1 the blades 13 of the propellers will not tend to suck air backinto the housings 11 but, instead, as each blade 13 emerges from its housing it will displace air outwardly and thence rearwardly, the displaced air being impelled rearwardly along the side of the body 1 as the said blade returns into its housing 11. In other words it has been found in practice that the efli ency of the propeller will be much greater where the shaft 12 is set back from the sides of the body than should the shaft be located in line with the sides. 'With the last named arrangement the tendency of the propeller blades would be to suck air into the housing 11 instead of displacing it rearwardly.

What is claimed is 1. An airship including a sustaining body, tiltable controlling planes at the front and back ends of the body, upwardly diverging sustaining planes at the sides of the body,

ing downwardly and paddle wheel propellers partly housed within the, side portions of the body and revoluble about normally vertical axes set inwardly from the sides of the body.

2. An airship including a sustaining body having upwardly and forwardly inclined front and back ends, tiltable controlling planes at the front and back ends of the body, upwardly diverging sustaining planes at the sides of the body,housings within the side portions of the body, propellers mounted for rotation within the housings about normally vertical axes, the a'iies of the propellers being set inwardly from the sldes of the body and concentric with the housings, and a car fixedly connected to and extend- 40 from the body.

In testimony that I claimvthe foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

. JAMES H. PEARSON.

Witnesses:

W. L. CASSIUS, R. P. THOMPSON. 

